MacD on Music: Back To The Future

One of the best parts of doing this column is getting to talk to people I otherwise never would've got the chance to.

A while ago I got one such opportunity when Colin Cronin, of The Future Cork Local Band, got in touch about a possible interview.

Recently, I was speaking to Colin again following the release of the group's latest album AD/HD 'The Mix Cassette Tapes' and he told me about the album and its creation:

Tell me a bit about the new album?

So, here’s the thing, our last few albums that have been released on streaming services via: Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, YouTube music and all the other streaming services including Instagram and TikTok and released to record stores such as Tower Records Dublin and 33rpm Cork Record Store & Plugd record store and Records & Relics. They have all been live albums and were recorded live. However, this album

AD/HD ‘The Mix Cassette Tapes ‘by the Future Cork Local Band has been recorded through a music software called GarageBand which we got a tip off from a few friends and musicians in the music college that I’m currently studying in at the moment.

The new album includes a backing vocalist/harmony singer on one of the tracks titled 'Drink is Bad Drugs are Worse' (which is an anti-drink/drug song) and that backing vocalist/harmony singer, her name is Maria McCarthy who was great for the job and well done to her.

Also, there was a keyboardist on a few of the tracks from the college that I’m attending, and we’d like to say thanks to them also.

The photography for the cover sleeve of the album was taken by me-Colin Cronin however we got help with designing the cover sleeve also by an Instagram user @robairdmacantsaoir who was great to work with, and we would advise anyone who’s looking for images digitally reanimated to contact them via Instagram.

I, Colin Cronin, wrote, recorded and mixed all the songs on this album.

The album includes four brand new tracks, three instrumental tracks and seven reissued tracks and they all sound amazing and have gotten great online feedback.

I would say 97% of work on this album I’ve done myself.

The rest was with the help of the people mentioned above; also, another very important person who helped and guided us along the way would be a good friend and great DJ and producer, called Lazar Nikolic who helped and guided us on how to get onto the streaming services.

If I had to pick my favourite part of working on this album, it would probably be using GarageBand and hearing my songs in different vibes and with so many different instruments.

I also enjoyed the day of the photoshoot for the cover sleeve, that was a fun and exciting day.

Did you have any plan or overall vision for the album going in?

Yes, our plan was to do something totally different to our usual live album recordings, and considering we had a bunch of new songs we thought it was the right time to try out a music software and we settled for GarageBand.

Yes, we wanted the people and the fans to hear our music in a different sound and say ‘damn, this group The Future Cork Local Band are not just a live group’ and have them say ‘wow they can produce really amazing music’.

And with the right people involved and the right team behind us we did that.

Are you happy with the final product?

Yes, I’m very happy with the final product. There were long hard hours put into this project.

We got help from the best of the best people. We had the best team to work with.

Thinking back, in hindsight there was no doubt that The Future Cork Local Band would be nominated for song of the month-October 2023 for the song 'Love You’ll Be My Angel Tonight'.

The payoff is unbelievable, it’s out of this world.

What have you got lined up for the future?

Well to be honest, I have several venues lined up to go back performing live and recording live gigs and promoting this new album by The Future Cork Local Band, first being the River Lane in Cork City (full setlist, possibly), Second being Fred Zeppelins in Cork City

(To perform a compilation of open mic sessions, possibly.)

They will all be with The Future Cork Local Band to promote the new album.

And that's it for another week. The Future Cork Local Band's new album AD/HD 'The Mix Cassette Tapes' is out now.

UPCOMING GIGS

Now, onto other business. This past Friday saw the release of TomCat's debut single 'It's Not Always Gonna Be Like This'. It's available now on all good streaming platforms. The official launch will be in Bennigan's this Saturday with support from Tessio and George Houston.

Also, Rhinos will be playing the Oh Yeah Centre in Belfast this Friday with support from A.N.J.A., Makeshift Art Bar and Sheela. This is guaranteed to be an incredible gig so be sure to get tickets while you still can.

And finally, time for the socials:

The Future Cork Local Band can be found on Instagram @thefuturecorklocalband, TomCat @tomcat_band and Rhinos @rhinostheband.